Description

Detailed Description

Bright sparkling analcime crystals on a base of pink gmelinite and on top of two yellow stilbite fans. The analcime crystals are colourless, although some appear to have a slight pink hue due to the underlying gmelinite. In excellent condition, no damage. Site perfectly as photographed – a beauty.

As a small aside… the underlying gmelinite is partially etched, but one can see that these were gmelinite pseudomorphs after chabazite, as the analcime seems to outline where the pseudo-rhombohedral shapes were. I think technically one would say that these are analcime partial pseudomorphs (epimorphs) after gmelinite pseudomorphs after chabazite.

About the Minerals and Localities of the Bay of Fundy (click here)

About These Stilbite-Analcime Specimens from Five Islands

Occasionally over the years, good finds have been made at Five Islands. These have included natrolite, analcime and stilbite, as well as the famous gmelinite-after-chabazite from Pinnacle Island. The specimens from this stilbite-analcime find are beautiful and distinctive, combining the two minerals.

The stilbite crystal groups can vary in hue from one specimen to the next, and it should be noted that the stilbite hues also vary under different sources of lighting – they are richest under halogen lights, less so under cool LED. As with all specimens on the website, the photographs are colour-balanced to daylight.

The vein-pocket zone where these specimens were collected was located in a precarious area, beneath an unstable-looking cliff face. Fortunately it was safe enough to excavate the zone, resulting in these beautiful specimens.